Sutton column: With lots of choices to call home, former N.C. State quarterback picks them all

By Bob Sutton / Times-News

Published: Wednesday, June 26, 2013 at 01:19 AM.

RALEIGH — Russell Wilson didn’t need to return to North Carolina State’s practice facility as part of what amounts to a cross-continent summer camp tour.

But with so many constituencies along his way to becoming the starting quarterback for the Seattle Seahawks, it landed conveniently on the map.

“The energy,” Wilson said Tuesday afternoon, referencing what he felt during the Russell Wilson Passing Academy. “I was never worried (about coming back). I had great relationships here. I love N.C. State.”

During a brief interview, he pointed out multiple times that he graduated from N.C. State — within a three-year period.

Wearing a straw-style, wide-brim hat — reminiscent of his former Wolfpack coach Tom O’Brien on the practice fields — Wilson said he finds it natural to want to give back and provide a message to youth. After all, he dealt with a variety of challenges and decisions before becoming a rookie sensation in the NFL.

Wilson played three years for N.C. State, then ended up with Wisconsin for his final college season after a second summer flirtation with professional baseball.

Yet the variety of experiences left an impression. Playing Division I football and baseball and competing in the Rose Bowl (with Wisconsin, of course) became part of what he describes as a coveted background.

RALEIGH — Russell Wilson didn’t need to return to North Carolina State’s practice facility as part of what amounts to a cross-continent summer camp tour.

But with so many constituencies along his way to becoming the starting quarterback for the Seattle Seahawks, it landed conveniently on the map.

“The energy,” Wilson said Tuesday afternoon, referencing what he felt during the Russell Wilson Passing Academy. “I was never worried (about coming back). I had great relationships here. I love N.C. State.”

During a brief interview, he pointed out multiple times that he graduated from N.C. State — within a three-year period.

Wearing a straw-style, wide-brim hat — reminiscent of his former Wolfpack coach Tom O’Brien on the practice fields — Wilson said he finds it natural to want to give back and provide a message to youth. After all, he dealt with a variety of challenges and decisions before becoming a rookie sensation in the NFL.

Wilson played three years for N.C. State, then ended up with Wisconsin for his final college season after a second summer flirtation with professional baseball.

Yet the variety of experiences left an impression. Playing Division I football and baseball and competing in the Rose Bowl (with Wisconsin, of course) became part of what he describes as a coveted background.

“To meet new people and be able to relate to guys,” he said.

While it appears Wilson has made it big, he’s still dreaming big, too.

“I want to be a CEO of a business someday,” he said.

For now, he has a summer camp in his name. The Russell Wilson Passing Academy began last week in his hometown of Richmond, Va., before the two-day Raleigh stop that ends today.

Next will be Madison, Wis., before two separate sessions in the state of Washington — one in Spokane, where once played minor-league baseball. No reason on skipping any potential hot spots.

By the time this tour is complete, he figures he’ll have come across 1,600 youth.

“To share my dreams with them,” he said. “I told them to write out their dream. Not only their sports dream, but their life dream.”

To help make that happen, he made stops Monday night in Raleigh — offering to meet would-be camp attendees on campus and at a shopping mall — to pass out “golden tickets” to attend the camp.

Three Elon University quarterbacks have been on hand, too, along with several other Elon players. Let it be noted that they’re counselors, not campers.

Wilson attracts the most attention anyway.

He’s 2½ years removed from throwing his final pass for the Wolfpack in a 2010 Tangerine Bowl victory against West Virginia.

He’s about 2½ months away from a Sept. 8 assignment that will bring him back to North Carolina when the Seahawks open the NFL season against the Carolina Panthers. We’ll see how popular he is on that day around here.

Wilson said it’s no time to sit back and act like he has accomplished something. He said he’s interested in improving. A year ago, he wasn’t considered a likely first-string quarterback, but he helped direct the Seahawks to the NFC championship game.

“One of 32 (starting NFL quarterbacks) in the world,” he said. “You cherish that. … God gives you only so many talents and you want to improve on those talents. How much better can I be? I’ll have to find out by the way I work.”

For a couple of more weeks, some of his “work” will come in the form of a passion to reach out to youth. With all these camp destinations, he’s bound to have picked up a few more admirers along the way.